Big Brother makes big money

While the four housemates were celebrating their final hours in the house today by drinking punch and stripping naked, Channel 4 is set to make £5million in advertising revenue, while Sky and mobile phone companies have matched that from text message and interactive TV voting from more than 14 million viewers.

More than 12 million viewers are expected to tune in tonight to watch whether Alex, Jade, Kate or Jonny wins.

These figures mean that Big Brother has been far more successful this year than in its two previous years, even though commentators had given repeated warnings that the format was becoming tired.

The group were in high spirits as first Jonny and Alex and then Kate stripped off in the shower, leaving only Jade in her bikini. But soon the boys donned their swimming shorts again and Kate retrieved her bikini to carry on the party in the pool.

The housemates' high jinks were part of the grande finale for up to 10 million viewers who are expected to seal the fate of the housemates tonight after nine weeks of back-biting, fumbling and drunken stumbling.

Meanwhile, agents for all four remaining housemates are already reporting that the £70,000 prize money pales into insignificance compared with the possible sums on the table from advertising deals and media buy-ups for all four housemates.

Experts say that episodes of the Channel 4 highlights programme and the digital show on E4 have generated £5 million for Channel 4 so far. All of that will go to the station, which bought the rights to a share of revenues from the programme from Endemol earlier this year.

Some of the contestants could also find themselves making serious money when they regain their freedom tonight. As well as a week's all-expenses paid stay in separate London hotels, at least two of the remaining housemates are at the centre of a bidding war. Model Alex Sibley is the soarawaywinner with deals already on the table totalling £1,334,000, mainly from a £1million deal with Brylcreem.

Among other offers the 23-year-old model from Hornchurch, Essex, could earn £70,000 to model for a high street clothes store, £100,000 as a TV presenter on a fashion show, £40,000 from a tabloid newspaper deal and £20,000 from a magazine deal.

Jade Goody, the dental nurse from Bermondsey who opinion polls suggest will win the show, is thought to have been made media offers worth £500,000.

Among her offers is a £100,000 deal to front a Big Brother documentary from Network 9 TV in Australia; she could also earn up to £20,000 to become an honorary lecturer at a beauty college in London and an estimated £100,000 deal to be the face of Hardcore - a strong cider.

She will also receive an estimated £64,000 for personal appearances in the next two months. Then there is the offer of £30,000 if she is poses for Playboy-Being the more likeable - but also more bland - of the remaining four has done little for Kate and Jonny however. The only firm offer that Kate Lawler, 22, from Kent, has so far received is from a production company who want to give her as estimated £100,000 to make a fitness video. Her agent is confident that "sportswear deals are likely to stream in over the weekend".

The price she will get from newspapers and magazines depends what she gets up to in the house today, her last day, and what position she finishes in but at the moment the total for interviews is unlikely to exceed £30,000. But her profile could be raised if she manages to win.

The same applies to Jonny Regan, 29, a firefighter from County Durham. He has attracted interest from five different celebrity agents keen to tout him around as a presenter, which could earn him £100,000. His job has also attracted interest from a number of charities. He could also earn up to £2,000 for every personal appearance.

The evictions programme begins at 8.30pm on Channel 4 with regular updates.